Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Given New $210.00 Price Target at Bank of America

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) had its price objective lowered by Bank of America from $220.00 to $210.00 in a report released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Dbs Bank lowered shares of Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 16th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 14th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $219.81.

Applied Materials Stock Up 1.1 %

AMAT opened at $170.73 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $190.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $206.68. Applied Materials has a 52 week low of $144.57 and a 52 week high of $255.89. The company has a market capitalization of $140.75 billion, a PE ratio of 19.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a quick ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 2.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.71%. The firm had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.12 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Applied Materials will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.58%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Materials

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. JT Stratford LLC boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 0.4% in the first quarter. JT Stratford LLC now owns 10,890 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,246,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 3.3% in the second quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 1,556 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $367,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 1.3% in the second quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 4,016 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $948,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 4.7% in the second quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 1,105 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $261,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Forum Financial Management LP boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 0.6% in the third quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 9,143 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,847,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Materials Company Profile

Applied Materials, Inc engages in the provision of manufacturing equipment, services, and software to the semiconductor, display, and related industries. The company operates through three segments: Semiconductor Systems, Applied Global Services, and Display and Adjacent Markets. The Semiconductor Systems segment develops, manufactures, and sells various manufacturing equipment that is used to fabricate semiconductor chips or integrated circuits.